Ogletree's sister, a police officer in California, was murdered by an intruder while off duty in her home. The professor said Flynn was using the controversy surrounding Ice T as an opportunity to "give the impression of concern for police officers in light of the recent difficulties in the Boston police department."

"My sense is that there is a certain amount of hyperbole in the letter," Ogletree said. "If Ice T is going to be denied an opportunity to speak, or be punished for his words, we probably should have prosecuted Shakespeare for suggesting that we kill all the lawyers and any other people who have said offensive and obnoxious things over time."

An official with the company that handled the release of "Cop Killer" echoed Ogletree's reaction last night.

Bob Merlis, senior vice president and director of media relations for Warner Brothers Records, said that he believed the mayor's letter was an inappropriate interference of politics in popular culture.

"My personal thought is that it's just politics rearing its not-so-lovely head in art and culture, which is a terrible mix," Merlis said. "I also think the contention that Ice T's presence will provoke violence is ill-founded."

Merlis said that "Cop Killer," released in March of 1992, did not arouse controversy until May, when several police groups first took notice of it and launched a nationwide protest.

Still, the record company executive acknowledged that it was the negative publicity surrounding the song that prompted Warner Brothers Records and Ice T to announce recently that they were dissolving their contract with each other.

"If the 'Body Count' album containing the song 'Cop Killer' had not existed, we would not be having this conversation right now," Merlis said.

In the press release announcing the split, Warner Records Board Chair Mo Ostin had said it was the result of a "mutual agreement" between the company and Ice T after "creative differences."

A spokesperson for Flynn's office said that the mayor was unavailable for comment yesterday. DuBois Professor of the Humanities Henry Louis Gates Jr., who as chair of the Department of Afro-American Studies co-sponsored the speech with Ogletree, was out of town and could not be reached for comment last night